Consists of a letter written by Gordon Stepler to his mother, Mrs. Ethelwyn Stepler. Transcription is as follows: Aug 26 1916 Dear Mother We have tried to get tickets for the show here but they are all full. However, there is a second show that starts at nine o'clock so we are going to it and in the meantime I will scribble this letter. Well this morning as Harcourt and I were coming out of the hotel in Glasgow we met Colbeck and Cobton so there are four of us again. I don't know where Caverhill is so the chances |page 2 are we won't see him until we get back. We took the train at 10 o'clock for Edinburgh and arrived here at noon so we first came to the hotel and got dinner. It was raining and has been raining all day but that has not stopped us from seeing [?] but my clothes are soaking wet. After dinner we first went to Edinburgh Castle. It is on a high rock and built of stone walls four or five feet thick. There is a winding road up to it and there are about eight gates to go through before you get to the top. The gates are strong and one of them has a big porcullis [sic], on three sides of it the stone rock is almost |page 3 perpendicular so that before the invention of gunpowder it was impregnable. Of course now it would make a fine target for artillery. Odd guns are mounted all over the top and one of the guns called the "Main May" has a bore of 90 inches diameter. It was made in the fifteenth century but was burnt once when they fired a salute on the Duke of York. You can get a great view of the city from up there |page 4 I went in the Old Parliament Hall where the old Scottish Parliament used to sit. It is full of ancient armour. Also Queen Marys [sic] room where James I was born. Then we went down an old fashioned street by the house where John Knox lived by St. Silas' Cathedral to Holy Rood Palace. There I saw a Picture Gallery full of old pictures [Lord Rawley's] Apartments and Queen Mary's Apartments. Also saw the Abbey, the roof of which has fallen in. Then came along by a hill where there are a lot of castles and monuments and by [Sir Walter Scots] |page 5 monuments. It is very beautiful and is about two hundred feet high. Then I went to the Royal Scottish Arts Gallery. It is full of the most famous paintings in the world and they were wonderful. The original famous cartoons by the Dutch cartoonist Raemaekers were there also and all kinds of statues. It has been raining all day |page 6 so that sort of spoiled things. To-morrow I am going back to Glasgow and am going to take a boat trip up the Clyde so hope this rain stops. I also saw the Glasgow [University] and other things which I have not time to mention. Wish you luck in deciphering this epistle as I am writing it in an awful hurry. Gordon

Consists of a letter written by Gordon Stepler to his mother, Mrs. Ethelwyn Stepler. Transcription is as follows: Aug 18/16 noon Dear Mother,- I have just returned from a visit to the Art Galleries here. They were wonderful being about the biggest in the world. They contain all the famous painting sculptures etc. Also old historical relics. You could spend a week in there seeing everything. Glasgow University is close by and I saw it too. |page 2 I left Edinburgh yesterday at [10] o'clock and got in Glasgow just in time to get to the Isle of Arran. It is a pleasure steamer for sightseers. We went down the Clyde and for a long way down we could see them building ships. The biggest ship yards of the world are here and you could see battleships, submarines, destroyers and merchantmen in all stages of completion. There were also several battleships there. As we got |page 3 farther down the scenery began to get prettier as the Clyde widened out. We had dinner on the boat and it was a good meal. We reached the town of Dunoon about half past one and had an [hours] stay there. It is an old fashioned Scotch Town - very pretty. They had not seen very many Canadians there before and we were looked on as a sort of |page 4 curiosity. It was very funny - several old chaps came up and seeing that I was from Canada, asked me if I knew such and such a person who went to Canada several years ago. After a walk around the town we got on the boat again and went on a cruise up the Gareloch. It resembles Muskoka, being narrow and winding and the hills standing up on the edge of the water. The country around was rocky and hilly |page 5 and a lot of the hills were thick with heather so that they were a mass of purple. I had intended to go to Loch [Lomar?] but as this is similar and it would take another day to go there am not going. We then went back to Dunoon and stopped there for a few minutes and then came back up the Clyde. We had supper on the boat. There are a lot of high rocks along the shore and at strategic |page 6 points you could see the ruins of an old castle where a feudal lord used to control the river. We got back about half past eight and then went for a walk and then came to the hotel. I like it fine up here - a lot better than I did London but I guess I will have to be leaving to-night. There are not as many Canadians up here and so they make great a fuss over you. The prices of everything are very reasonable too. Must leave now, Gordon Aug 28, 1916

Consists of a letter written by Gordon Stepler to his mother, Mrs. Ethelwyn Stepler. Transcription is as follows: Glasgow, Aug 25 1916 Dear Mother, Just a line to let you know where I am. I left London at 10 a.m. yesterday and got to Glasgow at 6.15. The scenery along the way was very pretty and I like this place better than I dod London. It was pouring rain when we got here but we took a cab and got something to eat. We went to the Glasgow Alhambre theatre at night and I never enjoyed a show so much before. We stayed here all night. Am going on a boat trip up the [?] this morning. Gordon

Consists of a letter written by James Smith to Vivien Beer. Item includes envelope and a photograph. Transcription is as follows: Clydesdale Bank Hamilton, Scotland 10.11.16 Dear Vivien Beer Thanks for your kind letter & I am glad I know that you are bearing up so bravely under your crushing blow. How splendid all you women are! I know from experience how desolate the world will appear to you at present, but I also feel sure that your grief is deeply tinged with pride, which will help to tint the grey days as they pass. It is hard to think of him so far away from you, & yet, don't you think that his spirit is hovering over you? Tennyson expresses that so beautifully in the "May Queen". & I know you will also agree with him that "[It] is better to have loved and lost, than never to have loved at all" With regard to the ring, I never dreamt of it having such hallowed association, to you it must be priceless! I really do not need anything to remind me of Jim. I have his photo & letters which I shall treasure. |page 2: His photo sits facing me in my lonely room & I somehow cannot think of him as "gone west" as he beams down upon me. I seem to hear his merry ringing laugh as I look at it. He proposed bringing you here on your honeymoon & insisted that I was to accompany you on a tour of the Highlands, though I protested that 3 people didn't go on honeymoon. It was good of you offering me the links but I had rather that you gave them to Jim's brother. I shall post the ring direct to you. The locket, links, diary &c I have already sent to his Mother. If not too much trouble I should like to hear from you occasionally, how you are getting along. May our Heavenly Father comfort & console your poor young heart! You will find work, & hard work, the only antidote & the time will soon pass. Only think of the Endless days you will have together, after this short pilgrimage is over. I have batches of wounded men for supper weekly & they are all so splendid. Kindest regards & boundless sympathy. Yours sincerely, James Smith

Consists of a letter written by James Smith to Vivien Beer. Item includes envelope. Transcription is as follows: [Parkison], Hamilton 8th Feb. 1919 Dear Miss Beer I have just been writing to Miss Allan, so will send you a few lines too. Miss Allan mentioned in her last letter that you had written me, but I did not receive it. I hope you are keeping well & I feel sure you have been busy with war work &c. I seem never to have a spare moment & my correspondence is sadly in arrears. Two of my [Bank] lads are in India & another East & I wish they were home. I often wonder how you are getting along. I was so sorry to hear that you had lost your brother on the field. Truly you have had your share of sorrow, wave upon wave. And yet I know that your sorrow is deeply tinged with pride for the gallant lads, who so bravely fought & died for us. A friend of mine here had news last Nov. of the death from wounds of his third & last son, all fine boys & now how desolate is their home, but never a word of complaint. He goes about as usual, only there has come into his face |page 2: a wistful, far away expression which is so pathetic. I keep Jim's photo above with those of some other boy friends of mine also "gone west" on my mantelpiece & I often think of pleasant hours spent in their company & wonder if we are worthy of their noble sacrifice. I like to have their happy faces smiling down on me & sometimes wonder if they can see me. Do you ever read Tennyson's "In Memoriam"? I think it is fine & you remember in his "May Queen" how she says on her death bed "I'll be often, often with you, when you think I'm far away." Sometimes when you have time perhaps you will send me a line or two, & please address- Clydesdale Bank Hamilton Scotland With all good wishes Your very sincerely James Smith